Fianna Fáil all talk no action on Health

Issued : Tuesday 13 March, 2018

Despite warning in January 2017 that Fianna Fáil would not tolerate another trolley crisis this winter, Labour spokesperson on Health, Alan Kelly TD, has said they are all talk but no action on red line issues.

Deputy Kelly said:

"In January 2017 Fianna Fáil warned they would collapse the Government by now if there was no improvement in the trolley crisis this winter but it seems they are content now to continue supporting Fine Gael.

“Yesterday there were 714 people lying on trolleys in Irish hospitals around the country, a record high. Today that number has dropped slightly to 649- a small improvement but still a shocking and unacceptable figure in this day and age.

“This raises obvious questions about the lack of forward planning to deal with the inevitable increase in demand for hospital services following Storm Emma, and I have called on the Minister for Health to outline what immediate measures are being taken to address this crisis.

“But what is also apparent here is that despite essentially holding the balance of power in the current government arrangement, Fianna Fáil are behaving more like bystanders to this crisis.

“Last January, when the trolley figures hit the 600 mark, we saw reports of ‘angry’ Fianna Fáil TDs warning the Government to sort out the trolley problem by this winter or the confidence and supply arrangement would be ‘called into question’.

“Fianna Fáil seem to have forgotten they are in a position to actually bring about change on this- and rather than making empty threats from the sidelines, should be ensuring their Government colleagues treat this crisis with the urgency it requires."